desert bloom | bleuwater

A yucca in bloom at the entrance to our neighborhood.

On my morning walks, I’ve noticed some beautiful blooms. We had a temperature swing of 30 degrees the past few days and I wonder if the flowers will wilt immediately in the heat? I decided yesterday to take photos to share the blooms while they are here.

A hedgehog cactus in bloom.

The hedgehogs have different colors of blossoms.

I hope all these buds bloom in the next day or two and it’s not too hot for them to make it.

According to my desert plant guide, these yellow flowers are Lemmon’s Ragwort.

I think Spring is my favorite season with all the wildflowers and the neighborhood coming back to life.

What is your favorite season and why?

Every week I get a new treat for my senses. Since this is my first Spring in Arizona, I keep seeing more plants bust out with flowers. I took these photos this morning in our back yard and around our neighborhood. I’m trying to learn the names of the native flora so I downloaded an app where I can snap a photo and it gives me the Latin and common name. But it’s hit and miss and many times the information is obviously wrong.

On a hike this weekend at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy we picked up a book called “Wildflowers, Butterflies and More.” It’s a flora photo ID guide by photographer Marianne Skov Jensen for the conservancy. She has it organized by color, so you can flip through the white, yellow, blue or pink or red flowers for easy identification.